Although applicable to any kind of airborne or landborne vehicle, the present embodiment and the problem on which it is based will be explained in greater detail with reference to a system and a method for damage tracking and monitoring during ground handling of commercial aircraft.
During ground handling of an aircraft, a large variety of ground support vehicles are typically maneuvering in the direct vicinity of the aircraft. On relatively short time scales, the aircraft must be refueled, passengers have to board and/or disembark, cargo must be unloaded, the aircraft must be cleaned and reprovisioned etc. The complex servicing of an aircraft has to be handled not only efficiently but also safely. For this reason, a lot of effort is put into avoiding any inadvertent collision between aircraft and ground support equipment during ground handling. Otherwise significant damage might be inflicted on the aircraft, eventually requiring expensive and time-consuming repair before the aircraft can be returned to service.
This is particularly relevant as formerly metallic parts of the aircraft fuselage are increasingly replaced by non-metallic composite structures. Composite components have the advantage of much lighter weight compared to similarly structured metallic parts. However, in case of metallic fuselages a visual inspection can reveal if a damage occurred which then can trigger an assessment of the damage and, if necessary, a repair effort. In case of composite fuselages, it is more difficult to detect damages as the composite material often does not reveal the damage in form of dents or the like. If an object impacts a composite fuselage, the material tends to flex and return to the initial state. Nevertheless, the impact might have caused internal damage of fibers and resin that may be invisible from the exterior and thus may be “hidden” from visual inspection. Hence, special means need to be implemented for damage detection. In addition, any impact must be reported so that involved parties can be made aware of the damage. It would be helpful if any occurring damage or impact could be backtracked to the perpetrator, e.g. a particular ground support unit.
Various collision prevention or warning systems and methods are known in the art, e.g. as disclosed in prior art documents US 2013/0321169 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 7,541,944 B2 and WO 2009/075648 A1. In addition, damage detection systems are described in the prior art, e.g. in document U.S. Pat. No. 8,594,882 B2 or in particular for structures made from composite materials in document U.S. Pat. No. 7,176,448 B2.
Document CN 102097014 B discloses a flight ground support service commanding and dispatching system. The system can realize the real-time communication of information with a dispatching center by utilizing a broadband wireless communication network so that the dispatching center can monitor all flight support service progresses and service resource positions. Further methods for real-time tracking and management of land-based vehicles on airports are for example disclosed in document EP 1 242 987 A1.
However, there is a need for tracking occurred damages back to the damage source in an efficient and automatized way. This would enable faster assessment of caused damage and the responsible party could be charged.